Severe criticism of the Prison and Probation Service, Borås Remand Prison, for not respecting inmates’ right of association, etc.

Over a period totalling around two months, a remand prisoner who was neither subject to restrictions nor placed in segregation was only allowed to spend time with other inmates in a common area on average once a week and had the opportunity to walk for one hour a day with a group of other inmates. The Parliamentary Ombudsman states that those measures do not satisfy the inmate’s right of association in accordance with the Remand Prison Act. The remand prison receives severe criticism for this.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman also makes certain statements setting the requirement of see page double occupancy as a condition for spending time with others and stresses that it is worrying if an inmate refrains from a measure designed to break isolation such as this on the grounds that it may lead to him or her having to share a cell with another inmate.

In the decision, the Parliamentary Ombudsman sets out the basic rules on inmates’ right of association and the applicable rules for those who are subject to restrictions or placed in segregation.